Mail Order Bride: The Master: A Historical Mail Order Bride Story (Mail Order Brides) by Lily Wilspur Read Free Book Online Page A

street. No one mentioned the impending conflict. But Matthew detected a subtle undercurrent of hesitation, especially among the women. In spite of the joyful atmosphere, they weren’t quite as exuberant as he thought they ought to be.
    More people gathered outside the church, and the crush of bodies filing through the door kept Matthew outside longer than he intended. He didn’t see the Master anywhere. He found Alan and Timothy in the crowd, and he joined them in hanging back to the rear of the crowd.
    “Have you seen the lady?” Alan asked Matthew.
    “What? Here?” Matthew asked. “No. Have you?”
    “No,” Alan replied. “I guess she’s hiding in the vestry.”
    “What about the Master?” Timothy asked. “Have you seen him?”
    “No.” Matthew looked away toward the mass of bodies at the church door.
    “Have you heard any more about…?” Alan stopped.
    “No.” Matthew compressed his lips to stop himself from saying any more.
    “But Felix said,” Timothy told them. “he said his father is coming today to stop the wedding. I heard the same thing from Andy Metzger, the barber. And you know what he’s like. He’s a regular clearing house for news. If he said it, the word must be out all over town. Noah Bartlett is coming here today to stop this wedding.”
    “I heard the same thing,” Alan agreed. “ and not just from Felix. You must have heard it, too, Matthew. Don’t say you haven’t.”
    “I heard it from Felix,” Matthew shot back. “ but you can’t take his word on anything. I’m here to see the Master get married, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
    But he didn’t feel it in his heart. With every step he took closer to the door of the church, his heart sank further and his gut ached from nervous tension. He wished he could go home and go to bed and wake up tomorrow morning and hear all about it from his friends. Why did he have to be here? Why did he have to see the Master gunned down in cold blood by a worthless lout like Noah Bartlett?
    Once the Master was gone, Felix would be insufferable again, just like he was before the Master came to town. The light would go out in Matthew’s life, and there would be no more reason for him to go to school He would go to work in his father’s wagon shop. Very likely he would never read a book for the rest of his life. What was the point?
    In the end, he couldn’t make any more excuses for staying outside the church, and the three boys went in. Alan and Timothy left to sit with their families. Matthew lingered behind the pews, trying to decide what to do.
    Up at the front of the church, the Master towered over the congregation seated in the pews. He stood straight and true in his immaculately pressed black coat with a black ribbon tied in a bow in the collar of his shirt. Matthew had never seen him looking so magnificent. The buttons of his coat ran up his chest in a firm, straight line.
    The minister mounted to the podium and began the service. The Master remained standing through it all. Matthew saw his mother turn around in her seat, looking for him over the sea of heads.
    Just then, a rustling noise made him turn around, and there was Polly.
    She wore a conical white gown with white ribbon bows around the hem and lacy overskirts. A thin gauze veil covered her head and face. Matthew couldn’t make out her face underneath it but after staring at her, he decided she looked sad.
    “Have you come to witness the inevitable?” she asked.
    Matthew frowned. He didn’t understand that word, but he didn’t want her to know that. “Miss?”
    “I didn’t think you’d come,” she continued. “I thought you’d run and hide in a hole. That’s what I would have done, if I was you.”
    “But you’re here,” Matthew replied. “Why didn’t you hide in a hole, if you felt that way.”
    “Me?” Polly asked. “I’m here to meet my fate. They’ll bury me in my wedding dress.”
    “The Master won’t let that happen,” Matthew